One Week
by callmeadreamerx
Summary: After going through sixteen years of your parents never being home, taking care of your younger sister, Gabriella saves the life of a young boy, sacrificing her own.
1. Chapter 1

I lied in the hospital bed, quiet, emotionless, and alone. Nothing could be worse than finding out you only have a certain amount of time left in this world, nothing is worse than knowing exactly when you're going to leave, and have no way out of it. The knock on the door scared me, I jumped. I looked at the door, unable to speak. It wasn't worth it, why waste time answering the nurses and the doctors, there are no options here, I'm gone. My parents? Who cares, they were never home anyways. Little sister? _Now that's something that was worth living for._ Annabelle, her blond hair that ran down her back, her big, green, child like eyes that never lost their shine. Her honesty, strength, and hope, never leaving her body. _Somebody worth living for alright._ I guess I'll have to make sure to watch over her, huh? Somebody has to keep her safe.

"Hey honey" Mom sat at the edge of my bed, half smiling, half frowning. Followed by Annabelle, who sat in the chair next to my bed. She starred at me, I guess she was as clueless and confused as I was. But still, her eyes shined, showing an inner joy and happiness. I'll miss that.

"Hi" I pulled on a strong smile, "Shouldn't you guys be at home?"

Mom shook her head, "No, we couldn't leave you here. Annabelle didn't want to. We wanted to know what the Doctors have said, and stay with you the night?"

_"Gabriella, that little boy you saved wants to say thanks. His parents and him are outside in the hall, can they come in?" The Doctor tried to smile, but I could tell something was wrong. Something bad was coming, and I had a feeling I wouldn't like it too much. _

_I nodded my head, my side still hurt, my head was pounding, I couldn't feel either of my legs, my arm was probably broken judging by the cast around it. "Sure, let them in" _

_A loving family of four came in, a little boy, older sister, and two parents. Followed by Grandparents. I automatically envied this family, for having everything I've dreamed of. Support. _

_"Gabriella, thank you so much for saving Ben's life. We could have lost him.." The Mom started crying, as the Dad held her tightly._

_"It was nothing...really. He's okay, I'm guessing" My eyes studied Ben, his leg was cut, his arm was wrapped up in a cast. Poor kid. _

_The father nodded, letting a few tears escape. "We weren't watching him for one second, and he automatically went for the street.."_

_I nodded my head, "Kids are always hard to watch. The point is that he's okay" _

_Grandma and Grandpa starred me down, "Are you some type of angel?" Grandma whispered, smiling at me. _

_"Just a girl looking out for people" I smiled a little, "He's too young for his life to end anyways. He has more to look forward to than me" _

_I guess I didn't notice who the girl was, Sharpay Evans? Wasn't she dating that guy Troy Bolton? "Thankyou so much, Gabriella." She smiled, "I wouldn't live without Ben. He means so much to me, and of all people, you, the girl I've treated like crap, saves him. I owe you so much, starting with a sorry." She sighed, "I promise to visit you, too. I'll have kids from school and-"_

_"It's okay" I shook my head, "Thanks, Sharpay" _

_The family left, and the Doctor soon returned. "They really do mean everything they said, Gabriella"_

_I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, I know. That kid didn't deserve what was coming though, That truck would have easily killed him" I groaned, my head started to hurt more."What happened to my legs?"_

_The Doctor sighed, "Your legs are paralyzed, and that's not all. That would have been making it out easy. You have internal bleeding from a number of places, including your head. We were able to stop a few, but they keep opening back up, the surgery didn't go as planned. You're actually lucky to be awake right now. As for your brain, we're not sure what's wrong. There's definitely something big, but we can't identify where it's coming from. But if things keep going as planned.."_

_I felt tears streaming down my cheek, "How long do I have?" _

_The Doctor looked down, "One week" _

Annabelle was at the lunch room, getting Mom a coffee. Mom was crying, hysterically. _As if she even saw half of my life anyways._

_"_My baby girl.." she said wiping her tears.

Annabelle opened the door with a coffee from star bucks, Mom quickly straightened up, acting as if nothing was wrong.

"Mom, can I talk to Annabelle alone?" I sighed, with pleading eyes.

"Okay" she stood up and walked out of the room. This must not be going as planned for her.

"What's wrong?" she started, already crying. "Why was Mom crying? I heard her from the end of the hall! What did the doctors say?"

I started crying, but stopped. I knew I had to be strong for her, at 13 she probably had enough drama. "Bell, stop. Please, just listen to me."

she crawled up to the bed and held my hand, looking me dead in the eyes. The child in her was gone, the shine remained. The happiness abandoned her, the inner joy slowly died out.

"Whatever happens, we'll always be sisters. You know that, right?" I paused, gulping down. Here comes the hard part. "I promise you, whatever happens, I'm always going to be looking our for you. You're always going to be able to come to me for advice and everything. I promise I'll always answer you."

she cut me off, a loud sob echoing through out the room. "You're going to die, aren't you? Brie, if you leave, I'm not going to have anybody! Mom and Dad are never home! It's not fair, you're all I have. It's team Bell and Brie, it always have been!"

"and it always will be. I promise." I sighed deeply, "I love you, Bell. I always will, and you're always going to be on my mind. You're more than my little sister. You're my life, I've watched out for you since you were born, since I was three. Whenever you're in trouble, just think of me and I'll help you, I promise, just keep me close."

She continued crying, "Here, I made this for you in art class. I made one for me, too. They match on purpose, and those beads in the middle say 'never forget. forever and always. bell&brie' told us we had to do this project on somebody that inspired us, and I was going to give it to you when you went on the trip to California with Taylor, so you didn't forget me. But I want you to have it now"she tied the bracelet on my right wrist as she tied it on her own left wrist.

Mom came in, "Bell, let's go home. Dad wants us home," she paused, "He'll come by to see you tomorrow"

_Course, he's too busy for me now, right? _

"Does he know?" I sighed,

"No" she shook her head, as Bell hopped down from my bed, and grabbed Mom's hand. "I'll see you tomorrow Brie" she choked, still crying.

* * *

_The truck continued skidding on the ice, beeping it's horn loudly, trying to get the attention of the people on the sidewalk. _

_The little boy innocently wandered around, completely clueless of the actions around it. _

_So I ran, I ran with all my strength and grabbed the boy, pushing him to the other side of the street. _

_He broke out into loud sobs, people stood frozen as my body was tossed around like I had no bones, like I was a rubber band that had no breaking point, like I wasn't human._

_The parents quickly picked the boy up, and dialed 911. Actually a lot of people were. _

_My eyes felt heavy, I kept trying to keep them open. _

_Somebody was next to me, telling me to stay awake. I know now that it was Troy Bolton. _

_The truck was still on both my legs, my head was bleeding, the blood was going over my eyes. _

_My arm was twisted into ways nobody would imagine possible._

_Nothing like a cold ice day to screw everything up._

_I gave up, I closed my eyes and that was it. I blacked out._

_I heard Troy yelling for me to come back, _

_I didn't. His voice became softer, softer, softer.._

_gone._


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctors get sad every time they see me, and I'm pretty sure they hold back tears. I've seen a few of the nurses cry. Dad never came to visit, Mom said he would as soon as he could get off from work. I guess that's more important, huh? Who needs to say goodbye to their daughter when they leave the Earth, right? Sharpay kept her promise and came the next day, so did a lot of the kids from school, including Troy.

_"Morning." he smiled as he entered my room. "How ya feeling?" _

_"Oh, I'm great Troy. I'm bleeding on the insides, I can't walk, oh, and I found out I have roughly a week to live. How are you doing?" I laughed a little, it was hard not to._

_He rolled his eyes, "It's not funny, Brie" _

_I almost choked on my water, it hurt like hell to swallow. "I know it's not, but you knew the answer to the question. Since when do you call me Brie?"_

_"Your little sister may have mentioned a thing or two" he sat at the edge of my bed. "She's really getting a kick out of this. My brother said she wasn't the same at school."_

_I sighed, "I know, Troy" I paused, "I don't know what to do."_

_"You can't do anything, it's not in your hands. You just have to go day by day, and time will eventually heal her." he grabbed for my hand._

_"Sharpay told you to come see me, huh?" I looked at him, his blue eyes seemed distant._

_"I planned on coming anyways." he mumbled, "I felt like I had to after I saw you save Ben. The paper's been crazy about how you're town hero, an angel from above, yada yada" _

_I laughed, "Really? The quiet science geek that nobody even noticed is now getting all the attention. A little too late, don't ya think?" _

_"You did an amazing thing, Gabs" he kissed my cheek and locked eyes with me. _

_The nurses outside in the hall closed the curtains. Privacy, huh?_

_"We used to be bestfriends, in kindergarten. Me, you, and Sharpay. Do you remember that?" I frowned, _

_He nodded, "I don't know what happened"_

_I laughed, "We grew apart over the summer when my Mom went crazy visiting all the family in Europe" _

_He nodded, "I never really forgot about you, it was Sharpay who-"_

_"Save it, I don't want to know why she treated me like crap" I mumbled, "It's over and done with." _

_and then his face slowly got closer to mine, planting his lips on mine. It wasn't just a friendly peck on the lips, it was a long passionate lovey-dovey type of kiss. The one that any girl would die for from her boyfriend. I guess I wasn't thinking about how he had a girlfriend, it just happened. Strangely, I didn't want it to end. _

_"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have" he sighed, "Sharpay's going to flip"_

_"She'll understand" I mumbled, just on time. The former Ice Queen entered the room. _

_"Hey Gabi" she smiled brightly, "Troy" _

_"Hey Shar" I mumbled, "What goes on?"_

_"I found this picture of me you and Troy. I wanted you to have it." she smiled, "I bought you this journal too. It's just to write your thoughts in" _

_"Thanks" I grinned, examining the picture, "Bucket heads" _

_"You know it" Troy said, taking the picture and starring down the three kids with buckets on their heads, smiling like they had no care for the world, with a small shovel in hand, acting like everything was perfect. Maybe that's because it was perfect, maybe things would be better if we stayed five years old forever. _

_"Did the Doctors say anything?" Sharpay said, quickly hiding her tears. _

_I nodded, "The same thing, that I'm getting worse and unless some miracle happens I'm gonna be gone by the weekend"_

_She sighed, "I guess it's too late to make up for the years we lost" _

_I nodded, "It's okay." _

_

* * *

_I keep thinking about that kiss, it replays in my mind time after time and it won't go away. Bell is coming here soon, after her dance practice. I actually ached to see her, because when she was here, she made me feel better. The pain went away and I was happy, I felt like I could live forever. But we all knew I was dieing slowly, actually, it was a little too fast for me. I planned on doing so much when I turned 18, the first would be to get a job, take Bell away from home without Mom and Dad, find a guy, and start our own family. I would give her the childhood I wished I could have, only it would start a little late for her. But now there was no falling in love. Finding a guy? Wouldn't have to. Friends? Don't need any. Family? I'll find my own when I get to where ever the hell I'm going.

"Hey Brie" Bell smiled a little, sitting on my bed. "Feeling better?"

I sighed, not wanting to answer. "Now that you're here I am."

she laughed, "I wish Mom would let me stay the night. I wish I could miss school to see you."

I groaned, "You're going to school, and you're going to your practices. No buts about it"

"I know" she paused, "I heard Troy came to see you today"

"Who told you that?" I mumbled, I was going to tell her what happened anyways.

"He's outside, he told me he kissed you and he wasn't sure if that was bad or not. He's the one who gave me a ride here from dance" she sighed, "He wanted me to see you"

I nodded, "Is he going to come in?"

she shrugged, "He said he had to get something to eat and he would probably swing by"

"Okay. Well in that case, it wasn't a bad thing that he kissed me, and I enjoyed it very much so" I laughed, "and I would dream of it happening again"

he came in, right as I finished that sentence. "Glad to know you enjoyed it, Ella" he grinned cheekily.

My jaw dropped. "Bell! You knew he could hear!"

she giggled, "Well now your dream could come true"

Troy smiled, kissing me once more. But not like before, not in front of Bell. But I still felt the same magic, and I hoped he somehow felt it too. There was only one problem. _Sharpay._ Two problems, _I'm dieing_.

"Hey, I'm going to spend the night. I'll just drop Bell off at home and come right back, I promise" he kissed my forehead,

"Can I talk to Brie alone?" Bell looked at Troy

"Of course you can sweetie" he politely made his way out of the room.

Bell looked at me and immediately started sobbing. "It's not fair! Troy loves you, I could tell! and you love him too, but you won't even have a chance to be with him because you're leaving us! Troy needs you, Brie! He was telling me on the car ride here. Why won't you let the doctors perform another surgery? It could save you!"

"Because it could make me go faster. If God wants me to remain on this Earth, he will. I don't need a surgery to decide for me." I sighed, "Bell, look at me"

her big eyes locked with mine, then to our bracelets.

"This surgery has a 10% chance of working. The doctors don't know what's going on with brain, the don't know if it will heal or if it'll kill me in a few days like they said. The surgery has a bigger chance of hurting me than saving me, do you understand that, sweetie? I love you, and I would give anything to stay here by your side. Because that's what kind of sister I wanted to be, and I'm trying, I'm really trying. This is hurting me just as much as it's hurting you." I held back all my tears, and rubbed her back, she cried into my chest and wouldn't stop.

"I'm just going to miss you. Mom and Dad won't even come see you! They said it hurts too much because they never even payed attention to us, so they don't want to say goodbye! It's not fair. Why did it have to be you? Why couldn't you let that little boy just **die!" **she was screaming by now, through her tears, she was angry.

"Saving that boy was worth it in the end, I hope you see that one day. He had a full life ahead of him, he had a family that he saw most of the time. He has a lot more to live for than I do. You know what's keeping me alive right now, hun? It's you. My little sister. You're the reason why my body is still trying to stay strong. Because I don't want you to feel like I'm leaving you, I want to be here with you ever step of the way" I sighed, squeezing her hand. "Now you have to go home and get some rest, I'll be here tomorrow, I promise"


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey there" Troy smiled at me,

_Just say it, Gabriella. Get it all out._ "We need to talk" I sighed, looking at him. It was pretty cold, to be honest.

"Okay, what about?" he sat at the edge of my bed, taking my hand.

_We both wanted to avoid this subject._

"You kissed me..But you're with Sharpay, Troy. We both know what happened was wrong" _yeah, but it felt so right._ A tear fell from eye, "But it felt so right"

he nodded, "I've just wanted to do that for a long time, Ella"

"But that's not the point! I can't fall in love with you, I'm dieing, it's a little too late for that!" I was pretty much yelling, but I knew I had to say goodbye before it got too far.

"What are you saying? Ella, I **am** in love with you. I always have been" he mumbled.

"Then why didn't you do something about it sooner? You had nothing to lose, do you realize how things cold have been?"

_I have no right to be angry with him, it's not fair. He didn't do anything to me._

"I had **everything** to lose. I didn't want to hurt you, or confuse you. Because I obviously hurt you once a few years ago and I just didn't want to do that again" his eyes turned a very dark navy blue, and they sparkled, they were about to burst any moment.

"You're hurting me now! You always have been hurting me, Troy! You and Sharpay, you ignored me! Sharpay has been treating me like crap every since High School started, in middle school she got everybody to hate me! But you didn't do **anything** to help me, the girl you just claimed to be in love with? Why, Troy? Because your reputation means more to you! You are one _selfish_ bastard, Troy. I just gave up my life, to save an innocent little boy. I didn't have to, God didn't tell me to. It just felt like the right thing to do, because I'm **not** selfish."

I continued sobbing and yelling, the nurse knocked on the door, I didn't bother to stop. Troy just starred at me, taking in everything that had been said.

The nurse looked at him, "I think you should go" she said quietly, looking at me with sorry eyes.

Troy nodded, and looked at me. "Thanks for saving Ben, Gabriella. We really appreciate it" he mumbled, walking out the door.

I just saw Troy Bolton cry over me, the one tear sliding down his cheek as he said his last words to me. This would be the last time he would see me, this would be the end of Sharpay and Troy. I was done with them, and frankly, I was okay with just being thanked for saving Ben.

"Sweetie, don't cry." The nurse sighed, she looked to be about in her 30's, she was a little more on the tall side, she had these gray blue eyes that reminded you of a stormy night at the beach. She was understanding, and calming. A perfect parent, giving her children a life full of love and laughter.

I slammed my head into the pillow, I was too tired to even think about how much my side hurt, "Is there any more bad news? Like maybe I'll die sooner than expected, that wouldn't be so bad" I mumbled, "Or am I going to live? That would be a punishment"

I wanted to die, right here and now. I don't want to stay here anymore, I just can't. What's there to live for? Nothing.. _Except for Bell._

"One of your cuts has closed up completely, and it was actually the biggest of all, but your head..we're not sure. But you have a pretty good chance of beating the odds, sweetie. You may be the world's miracle angel." she smiled a little "Do you want to talk about it?"

I nodded my head, "Let's start with my parents completely ignoring me all my life, and now even visiting." I mumbled.

_When I was five years old, my Mom made me sign up for ballet, I would throw a tantrum on my way to each lesson. I hated ballet more than anything, but Mom felt like I stayed in the house too much. Bell was only two at the time, she would giggle at how I looked in my costume. Getting to ballet was never a problem, it was simple, really. But then I would be the only kid waiting outside at the end of the day, Mom and Dad would always get caught in meetings. So they hired me and Bell a nanny. Her name was April, she was my angel. She watched over us like a real parent, and she gave me a necklace for my birthday. I've always kept it on, because it just made me feel like we had a connection. She always knew when I was upset, or when I was hurt. Then I turned 13, and Bell was 10. Mom and Dad had to fire April, because I was now old enough to pick up Bell from elementary school and walk home with her, I was old enough to cook meals for ourselves. I cried and cried the day April packed her things and said goodbye. You know what she told me? She told me that whenever I needed her, she would come and find me. She told me that I just had to remember the necklace and she would give me advice on anything. That was what she was best at, advice. When Troy and Sharpay ignored me, she told me everything would be alright and I would make new friends, I did. A few months after she left, Mommy and Daddy got a phone call, they looked kind of sad, but since it interrupted their work stuff, they didn't really care. Mom sat me down on the couch and looked me in the eyes, "Honey, April was hit by a Car, it wasn't aiming for her, but she jumped in the way to save a little girl." I locked myself up in my room that day, then the very next day, I fussed and whined enough for my parents to take me to see her. That day, April looked me in the eye and said, "Gabriella, I know you must think I was crazy for saving a stranger, but I know I did the right thing. I'm 33 years old, I lived enough of my life. Letting that little girl die would be selfish, I'm glad I did what I did. Now that little girl can see the world for what it is, I've seen enough of it. " she paused and wiped my tears, "I'm going to watch out for you, okay sweetie? I'm going to make sure you get the best of life before you have to leave. I promise that when you need me I'll talk to you, and I'll always listen. So keep your head up, and don't cry, smile. See your necklace? It's a butterfly for a reason, because they're beautiful in every single way, they're free and graceful. Whenever you see a butterfly around, I want you to know that it's me saying hi." she smiled, "make sure you say hi back, okay? can you do that for me?" I nodded my head, "Okay" I did the best I could to smile. Then Mommy and Daddy came to get me, the very next day she died. I promised myself I would act just like April to help Bell, I wanted to show Bell what April showed me about life. _

I wiped my tears, "I miss her still, and I think about her all the time"

The nurse smiled at me, "If she was here, she'd tell you to **fight** for what you deserve, and sweetie, you deserve to live. You just started life, you have to fall in love, have kids, get married."

I sighed, "I know" I mumbled, "But what else is there to live for? Two more years with useless parents that ignore you? No thanks" I sighed. The nurse sounded just like April, her hair, the butterfly necklace.

"Nurse Webber you have a patient in room 206" the doctor smiled at me, and the nurse looked at me.

"Fight, Gabriella. Fight" she stood up, "April's closer than you think"

I looked at her butterfly necklace, _her necklace._ April, that necklace. Was she paying me a visit telling me to try and fight what the doctors are telling me? She always had the strangest way of saying things. Was this her way of saying I need to live and go after what I want? Maybe the pain in my side felt a little better, but my head. My head was throbbing in pain, and even if I did live, what about my legs? I want to walk, and I want to be able to do everything a normal person would be able to.

"Gabriella Montez?" a short, rounded man came into my room. "These are for you"

I sat up, "From who?" I took the flowers and placed them on my nightstand.

"The person made it very clear not to tell you, but here, these are from a..Troy Bolton" he handed me a second bouquet of flowers, only these were roses.

"Thanks" I said, half smiling.

I looked at the flowers, half confused, half happy. One bouquet, the one from a stranger contained the most beautiful combination of flowers anybody could lay eyes on, then my eyes widened, my half smile turned into a full grin as i spotted the butterfly in the middle, and the card. Now normally, these kind of things would happen in movies only, but I knew this was from April. The nurse, the flowers, they all had one thing in common. Butterflies, and that's what made me want to actually fight.

Troy's bouquet of roses had a nice card, classic ladies man.

_Dear Ella,_

_I'm sorry about what happened earlier, and you're right, 100%._

_I did screw up, and that kiss did feel extremely right, _

_I should have helped you out and never should have ignored you._

_I have been hurting you all along and I'm sorry for that._

_I never meant to hurt you, and I know that sounds like garbage. But gosh, _

_it is true. I mean it, and I'd do anything to prove that to you._

_I'm not asking for a second chance, because you won't give me one, _

_I know you that well. But I'm going to keep fighting for you,_

_this time I'm not giving up. You'll always be my soul mate, _

_no matter what happens this week. I promise you, _

_I love you. Sharpay knows how I feel, and she's not angry,_

_she's happy, and sad. Sad that I'm losing my soul mate,_

_angry that you have to leave without falling in love,_

_or experiencing anything life has to offer. _

_From _

_Troy Bolton.  
_


End file.
